Games and Activities for Infants and Toddlers
Games entertain and mentally stimulate children through a variety of methods. Fisher-Price has free games for infants and toddlers on its website. It is recommended that parents play the learning games themselves prior to sitting down at the computer with children; previewing helps determine activities most appropriate for children of different ages and their unique developmental stages. For its part, Family Education provides an extensive list of activities for infants and toddlers.
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Fisher-Price Activities for Infants
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Fisher-Price activities for infants include Laugh and Learn Animal Fun Game, in which children manipulate animal images and sounds by pressing any keys on computer keyboards. Tap and Color enables infants to observe age-appropriate black-and-white images fill in with color as they similarly press any keys. Four more games for infants are available, including variations of peek-a-boo in which pressing virtually any key prompts friendly animals to pop onto the computer screen.
Fisher-Price Activities for Toddlers
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Fisher-Price website games for toddlers include Laugh and Learn Learning About Opposites, for which a basic understanding of operating a computer mouse is required. Toddlers use the mouse to progress through viewing various examples of opposites. Five more games are available, including activities that assist children in learning the alphabet, identifying animals, dressing appropriately and solving puzzles.
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Family Education Infant Games
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Family Education recommends playing creative, easy rhythm games, encouraging development of natural rhythm and coordination. Pots, pans, aluminum tins and spoons are used as makeshift percussion instruments, as well as metal salt shakers filled with rice. Music is played and children are encouraged to move with the beat. Instruments are traded or exchanged, encouraging diversity and creativity.
Hand and eye coordination is developed by playing with balloons. Infants learn to slap balloons as adults roll them by. Empty paper towel rolls are used as bats as children grow and become able to hold the rolls, leading to developing skills required to bat balls.
Family Education Toddler Games
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Family Education recommends flashlight fun, an activity in which toddlers learn about light and colors. Colorful balloons are cut to fit over heads of flashlights, then held in place by rubber bands. The flashlights are turned on in dark rooms and shined upon walls. Children observe the effects of changing colors of balloons, shining different colors on the same spot and how the colors change when mixed.
Toddler bowling is played with empty plastic soda bottles and a large ball. Bottles are lined up so the toddler learns to enjoy knocking them down by rolling the ball.
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References
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